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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. firm — a company
  3. bore — to drill
  4. firm — steady
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. firm — decided
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. band — a music group
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. band — a ring
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bore — to tire
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bass — low music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. craft — a skill
  24. bass — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com